Sarah McLachlan Looks Back on Lilith Fair's Legacy and the Sexism She Confronted: 'Why Do You Hate Men?' (Exclusive)

Beyond her prolific euphony career, Sarah McLachlan's bequest has been shaped by helming nan groundbreaking, all-female euphony show Lilith Fair.

Founded successful 1997, nan touring euphony event, which was created successful bid to combat manufacture sexism, ran until 1999 earlier it was revived concisely successful 2010.

"There was an instant relationship and an instant camaraderie," nan "Fallen" musician PEOPLE tells PEOPLE. "That organization didn't spell away."

During its run, McLachlan, now 57, hosted property conferences, wherever she often had to strengthen misogynistic questions from antheral disc jockeys.

In fact, she says that 1 of nan most-asked questions was "Why do you dislike men?"

"I'm like, 'What successful nan world does celebrating women person to do pinch hating women aliases hating men?' That says measurement much astir you than thing else. There was a batch of bating," she says.

McLachlan recalls she would get accused of leaving men retired of Lilith Fair.

"I'm like, 'I haven't excluded men. There's men everywhere, but we're celebrating women here. And you cognize what? Men tin observe women, too. Why are you being an ass?" she says.

According to McLachlan, she besides would section "dumb questions" for illustration "what do you girls do backstage" and "do you stock lipstick tips?"

"I was rather young and greenish astatine nan time, and I seldom snapped back. It was mostly conscionable trying to deflect and move connected to topics that were much interesting," nan "Angel" hitmaker recalls of really she handled nan situation.

At 1 point, nan touring euphony arena moreover endured explosive threats owed to its pro-choice stance and Planned Parenthood booths.

"It was scary," McLachlan recalls. "I retrieve being very acrophobic nan time of, particularly pinch nan explosive threats. But guys came in, they swept everything pinch their dogs."

She recalls having to determine whether nan show would continue.

"For me, I'm like, 'I don't want them to win. I don't want to beryllium intimidated by this.' So we pushed on. I deliberation astir if we were doing thing for illustration this coming successful today's climate, it'd beryllium 10 times worse," says McLachlan.

Now, Lilith Fair is nan taxable of nan Ally Pankiw-directed documentary Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery - The Untold Story, which specifications nan untold communicative of nan euphony festival.

Included successful nan documentary are interviews from original Lilith Fair artists, including Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Erykah Badu, Paula Cole, Jewel, Mýa, Natalie Merchant, Indigo Girls, and Emmylou Harris, arsenic good arsenic modern artists like Brandi Carlile and Olivia Rodrigo, who person been inspired by them.

In nan documentary and pinch PEOPLE, McLachlan reflects connected nan disapproval Lilith Fair received for not being divers capable astatine nan time.

"There was not capable diversity, particularly astatine nan beginning," she tells PEOPLE. "We were a start-up, a fledgling that cipher had heard of before, and we asked everybody from each different genres of music, and we sewage who said 'yes.'"

In retrospect, McLachlan says that nan inaugural twelvemonth of nan show "wasn't arsenic divers arsenic we would've liked." But she thinks its first occurrence landed her credibility pinch different artists.

"Managers would look astatine nan show and go, 'Well, wherever does my creator fresh in? My creator is different than this." I'm like, 'Well, that's nan point. I don't perceive to 1 benignant of music. I perceive to each different kinds of euphony and truthful do a batch of my fans, truthful do a batch of euphony fans. So, why are we limiting what we're hearing?'" she recalls.

McLachlan noted that while she and nan squad down Lilith Fair faced their adjacent stock of criticisms, they were "doing nan champion we could and tried to put connected a really awesome show that showcased a batch of different kinds of music."

Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery - The Untold Story is retired connected Hulu and Hulu connected Disney+ Sunday, Sept. 21.

For much from Sarah McLachlan, prime up nan latest rumor of PEOPLE, connected newsstands everyplace now.